Category: Negative feelings

Self-talk which is also known as our inner voice is what we say to ourselves. These words, whether they are positive or negative, strongly influence how we feel and act in our daily lives. Studies show the average person thinks between 50,000-70,000 thoughts every single day! (Davis, 2014)

This translates to almost one thought per second. That’s a lot of words!

These words directly influence the way we behave and feel. Therefore, it’s important to use positive words that are structured to help us live our best lives.

The problem is that the average person is not even aware of the talk going on in their minds and just how much of an impact the talk is having on their daily lives. Patterns are developed over a period of time when the same word is thought over and over whenever an action occurs. Over time it becomes a habit and before you know it a pattern of negative self talk has been created.

There are ways to become aware of the words we use to speak to ourselves and break patterns of negative self talk.

My story on Negative Self Talk

I found that over the past couple of years because I had experienced a lot of change in my life I would over analyze situations to the point where it ultimately led to negative self talk.

Mark Manson, the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck refers to this as theNegative feedback loop from hell. When I realized that I was going down this path of negative self talk and it was influencing my life in ways that were not worthwhile, I realized that something needed to be done immediately.

I had to replace the negative self talk with positive words and positive self talk. The only way I could do this was to recognize the thought patterns I had, create replacement positive thoughts and continue to reinforce the positive. Over time, the positive words/thoughts replaced the negative.

In my video titled, 7 steps I used to Overcome Negative Self Talk: https://bit.ly/2O8Mv2a I talk about the various strategies I used to overcome negative self talk. The 7 strategies I discuss are

Rediscovering yourself – becoming your own best friend

Evaluate all the Relationships in your life

Keep a Thoughts Inventory

Replacement Positive Thoughts

Visualization

Personal Mantra

Morning Affirmation

To hear my story and how I used these strategies to overcome negative self talk, check out my video at https://bit.ly/2O8Mv2a. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please share in the comments below or on the video.

About the Author

Fatima Peermohamed is an avid yogi, hiker and the founder of the YouTube channel Trending Inspiration. Fatima is passionate about helping people shift their mindsets to reach their potential and live their best lives. Follow on Instagram at https://bit.ly/2MFeUIt and subscribe to her channel for more inspiration at https://bit.ly/2PEHZ8K

The fact is, many of us rely on creating to express our emotions. All of us on are especially familiar with this process. Creating to express our emotions in any form has potential to be a healthy and life-giving experience.

We can use art and creative writing as a means to turn our negative feelings into a reckoning for positivity. Here are some thoughts about negative experiences and how we can write them into a corner when they try to bully us.

The Dangers of Holding in Our Pain

Our culture glorifies the idea of holding in your emotions. Men are often called weak for being expressive, and women are called crazy for expressing their emotions in any way. Neither of these is fair, as emotions are simply a part of the human experience, and there’s nothing weak about admitting to what you feel.

We have to normalize emotions and offer people practical ways to handle their trials in life. Even social work professionals admit we need to start thinking out of the box. I propose one of the best outlets for pain is through creative writing.

Write It Off

There is something so satisfying about forming the perfect sentence to describe what you’re going through. As long as you’re doing it for you and not to impress others, I think being able to work hard on this transfer from mind to paper is therapeutic. By writing about your negative experiences, you can process them, and learn from them. If you’re comfortable with it — share and relate it to others.

Here are some suggestions to turn your negative experiences into lemonade, through the power of writing.

Poetry Exercises

Poetry, lyric writing, and the like are the best places to employ your artistic license, due to the common “show don’t tell" mentality that’s so popularized in these communities. I personally find it useful to use poetry prompts in order to challenge yourself. The point of doing these exercises is to force you to write down your thoughts in a different way than just “I feel sad" or “I am angry." You also are usually writing less — but it’s harder to get a good flow going. It’s a new form of expression for a lot of freelance writers and similar creatives and can influence your other writings as well.

Descriptive Nonfiction

This is something I struggled with originally due to my past writing song lyrics with metaphors. I had to drop all of that — which I now consider being mostly fluff — and switch to describing the actual scenes around me. Descriptive nonfiction lives in “show don’t tell," more strictly than poetry does.

Retell your story. Use color, shape, and other physical descriptions. How red was your face from embarrassment or hurt? What were other people doing? How they moved, their facial expressions, and how did their face change and move as well? What words were they using? Of course, “show don’t tell" can also make for a traumatic retelling of a hard time, so gauge yourself and see if you can handle it first.

Letters to Yourself

Years ago, during one of my first breakups, I found myself writing letters late before bed. These letters were addressed to me, oddly enough. I never called it journaling or felt like I was writing a diary. I was very clearly writing a letter. Even though I was the recipient of these letters.

Physically writing my thoughts down on paper felt like I was transferring my emotions — like they were physically leaving my body. This was one of my initial experiences with the therapeutic effects of writing, and since then I’ve used writing to help myself through other breakups, loss of friends and family, and stressful life events.

Freewriting

It has been said that “bad writing is good for you," and this may certainly be the case in your situation. Freewriting offers the comfort of no restrictions – just straight up word vomit until you need to eat again.

Some find this to be a positive and freeing experience. It offers them a way to put some elbow grease into releasing their emotions, but they don’t have to worry about anything else. This isn’t typically the writing you show people, but certainly, you can if you would like. It’s your lemonade.

Get a Little Abstract

Use weird prompts and exercises — and by “weird" I mean unusual to you — to stretch your writing and give you new ways to express yourself. The thing with writing prompts is that they work like writing games. You have to use them to finish a piece based on rules and restrictions you don’t typically adhere to. Some of the most satisfying pieces of writing I’ve done have been based on odd prompts, and it always feels like a new way to express my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

How To Encourage Others

As I mentioned earlier, we need to normalize negative emotions. Make them something to talk about, and make it usual to talk about them. Let’s innovate a bit and give struggling people healthy and positive ways to handle their pain.

We must live by example first, because telling people to talk about their issues doesn’t shut out the voices — external or internal — that make them feel uncomfortable doing so. Being encouraging and transparent, ourselves, can do that.

Now, how much more as a writer can we share our experiences tangibly, especially with other writers? We all struggle with life, so writing them down for others may actually give them something to lean on, and maybe vice versa. Make your own lemonade from life’s hardships.

Ultimately, transparency begets transparency

With that in mind, let’s strive for honesty and humility with each other, so we can destigmatize depression, formulate it into something positive, be it through writing or whatever other form of creation you choose, and gain something from it rather than lose everything to it.

* * *

How have you used writing or creativity to cope with bad experiences? Let me know in the comments below!

Author’s Bio

Avery T. Phillips is a freelance human being with too much to say. She loves nature and examining human interactions with the world. Comment or tweet her @a_taylorian with any questions or suggestions. Avery lives in the United States.

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

Technology is advancing quickly but some values and traditions keep up with it while staying the same. One of those traditions is definitely journaling. Young generations find that the beauty of journals and journaling far surpasses blogging and online diary keeping – pen and paper are here to stay.

At the end of a long day, it’s best that you sit down with a cup of tea or coffee, turn off all of your devices and start writing. Not only is journaling popular and beautiful but it also has a therapeutic effect and helps you de-stress.

If you still haven’t decided to pick up the pen and begin, here are some benefits that you’ll notice if you journal every day.

Journaling can help you get rid of negative thoughts

When you put those words on pen and paper, you slowly start to let go of all of your negativity. Words are now on paper, not in your head. You’ll find that it’s a lot easier to go about your life once you release all of your bad energy on the page. It would become easier to de-stress.

This kind of experience is something you would hardly have online since typing does not give the same satisfaction.

One study even says that if you write your thoughts down and then throw them away, you’ll be able to keep them at bay for a while. Of course, thoughts regenerate but once you throw them away, you’ll be able to forget about them, at least a bit.

Journaling is empowering

“Through journaling, you can track your own life and what happened to you, how you felt and what made you sad – it gives you perspective. This new perspective on your life will enable you to draw lessons that you would otherwise miss completely", – explains Carol Garner, a Psychology writer at Bestbritishessays.

Whatever bothers you, write it down and after a while, you’ll be able to see what you can learn from that.

It gives you a chance to spend time without technology

Technology can sometimes have a therapeutic effect on people, especially when they use social media to connect with friends and family etc. However, it’s always a good idea to turn off all of your devices and dive into the wonderful world of writing your thoughts down.

Gratitude journaling reduces levels of stress and makes you happier

Gratitude journaling is a great practice where you write down everything that you are grateful for or happy about in your journal. This is believed to have a therapeutic effect since it draws positive energy and brings it to you. It helps you learn to look out for the better things in life. After a while, you’ll be noticing details that you are thankful for with an ease and all thanks to your journal. It can even help you think less about negative things in your life by simply thinking more about good things.

Give yourself wise advice

Once you notice that there are lessons to be learned in your journal, you’ll see all of your mistakes and wrong steps. Write about it in the third person so you can have some more perspective on the whole situation.

Jason Horn, a Personal Coach at Ukservicesreviews comments: “Journaling about a big decision you’ll have to make or a tricky situation that you are in will help you see it clearly. Then you could give yourself the kind of advice that you give to your friends and listen to what your heart tells you. Journaling has that kind of therapeutic effect on people and it helps them realize what they need to do".

How to Start Writing a Journal and de-stress

There are plenty of ways that you could start journaling. First, you could get an actual notebook and write in or a new email where you’ll send yourself journal entries, or a private blog. After you have decided upon this, you’ll probably wonder what to write and how to write it.

For the beginning, you could use some tools to help you out:

– Studydemic or Academized to give you some writing guidance if you don’t think that you are a talented writer.

– AcademAdvisor and Bigassignments are online editing and proofreading tools that can be useful to you if you are a perfectionist or if you simply want your journal to be beautiful and mistake-free.

– Oxessay is a formatting tool which will give you an excellent insight on formatting – it was recommended by Uktopwriters.

– Writingpopulist is a website that will give you plenty of fresh, quality writing tips and advice.

– Australian help is a grammar checking tool that will make sure that your text displays no grammar mistakes.

Conclusion

You should definitely start journaling right away – with all of these health benefits, you will learn to de-stress sooner than you think. Let the journal into your life and allow it to guide you through your emotions.

Author’s Bio

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

Negative thoughts can have a devastating impact on all aspects of your life. Recognizing these thoughts is one way to change your relationship toward them. Taking mindful steps can help you create some space between your thoughts and reactions. Cultivating mindfulness can help you identify and deal with negative thoughts, which leave you in self-doubt and shame, and embrace all that is good at the moment. At the core of each of us is a space that knows pure peace. But as negative thoughts seep in, we tend to be drawn away from it, and this results in trauma and stress. Here are a few ways in which negative thoughts impact our lives:

Anxiousness and Worry

Negative thinking can make you anxious about things that could or could not happen. You end up thinking nothing good can ever happen to you. Whether it is your health, a relationship, or even your career, you start worrying about things going downhill, and your performance starts deteriorating.

Stress and Lost Focus

All the anxiousness can only lead to stress. You start losing focus and build up a negative scenario in your head. And even though nothing has happened, you assume that everything is ruined.

Criticism and Self-Loathing

One clear pattern of negative thoughts is the need to criticize yourself and those around you constantly. You start becoming too harsh on yourself and focus on your weaknesses. All of this leads to low self-esteem and a lack of confidence.

Regret and Guilt

Finally, it builds regret and guilt based on the mistakes you made in the past. While there is nothing negative about reflecting on past experiences, you shouldn’t dwell on a situation with no intention to learn and move on. It leads to feelings of guilt and worthlessness due to wrong choices you feel you might have made.

The Role Of Mindful Thinking

Mindfulness is about being self-aware and present at the moment. It helps you think more deeply and more objectively. It lowers your stress levels and enhances your mood. In a way, mindful thinking stabilizes your emotional intelligence, making you calm amidst all the noise. The key impact of mindfulness is that it exerts a positive influence on the thinker and helps the person get a better insight into his/her life. Here’s how you can break your habitual negative responses with mindfulness.

Monitor Your Thoughts

To be free of negativity, you must become more aware of your thoughts. You can do this by paying more attention to what is going on inside your head at any given time. Identify thought patterns that lead to negative thinking. This can help enhance your degree of awareness. Becoming mindful will help you take control of your thoughts and emotions, and not the other way around. Catch the negative thoughts as they arise, before they gain too much momentum.

Be Present In The Moment

Negative thoughts come mostly from dwelling in the past or worrying about the future. You can avoid this issue by being mindfully present in the moment. Avoid negative thoughts and direct your attention to all positive things. Discard any thoughts that don’t have anything to do with the situation you are currently in. Relax and release the thoughts of what happened and what could happen, and think about what is currently happening.

Constructive Thoughts

Spend your time in constructive thoughts. You need to decide if you want to dwell on thoughts that lead nowhere or those that can make your day more productive. Allow yourself to experience every moment fully and think about something constructive. Use your past experiences to learn and make decisions instead of dwelling on them. Constructive thinking lets you be happy even when things are not going too well. It helps you put the problem in perspective and lets you deal with them practically.

When you are more mindful, you become less affected by negativity. Practice mindful thinking, and you will see how you transform those negative thoughts into positive ones. And, eventually, you will get into the habit of looking at every moment with a positive mindset.

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

For most of us, even the thought of positive thinking seems too far-fetched when compared with the practicalities and ironies of life. The term has been used so often that it has lost much of its significance. However, experts reveal that there is a lot more to the impact of positive thinking than mere instances of happiness.

In the educational context or from a professional outlook, a positive attitude helps regardless of your situation and mindset in life. When we talk about student’s struggle at college or university level education, it is apparent that positive thinking is more relevant as compared to children in preschool.
This is why teachers are advised to incorporate exercises and discussions in the class in order to instill the right positive thinking attitude towards studies and academic commitments.

As a consequence, we’re going to examine the details of the influence of positive thinking in a student’s life and how our attitude affects our success.

The Power of Negative Thinking

We tend to have countless of thoughts over the course of each day. Most of the chunks come from the remains of the thoughts from yesterday and before.

Unfortunately, some of these thoughts are negative. Common examples include, “I won’t be able to complete this assignment", “how am I supposed to deliver this presentation to a large audience tomorrow?", “I am not good enough to be recognized in the class", etc. The thoughts attach themselves to our mind and bring us down.

Negative thoughts blur our attention. Imagine wandering in the world of The Walking Dead, and a herd of zombie is advancing towards you. It doesn’t matter what your mind was occupied with before witnessing this scene. Your immediate response would be to run away from this herd.

Agreeably, quite an extreme example to narrate, but this is what negative thinking does. The thinking will consume our thoughts in a way that will make it quite hard to get over the mental barriers and consequences.

The Shining Power of Positive Thinking

The power of positive thinking is visible, only if we have the knowledge and will to see through it. A psychology professional at the University of North Carolina, Barbara Fredrickson, examined the relationship between positive thinking and actions. She concluded that its impact to transform our lives can be quantified.

Fredrickson’s experiment contained five groups who watched different videos and displayed different types of emotions: happiness, satisfaction, anger, fear and neutral. The groups were then requested to visualize the same situation and explain how they would handle the situation.

The participants who watched positive and inspiring videos registered a better idea generation ability as compared to other groups. Fredrickson’s experiment concluded that positive thinking actually enhances the mental boundaries up to a great extent. On the other hand, negative thinking limits the creativity and thinking capacity of the brain.

How Positive Thinking Fabricates Skills

The dynamics of positive thinking is also often termed as “broader and build" theory. The theory states that the positive emotions come as a motivating drive that urges the individual to be imaginative and work for his or her best interests. Consequently, this leads us towards attaining future skill development.

How to Think More Positively?

Contain yourself strictly

Not from productive things, but yourself from falling into the never-ending ocean of negative and depressive thoughts. Before thoughts, stop yourself from negative self-talk and stay optimistic no matter what the situation is. Keep telling until you convince yourself that you are better than that, deserve more, and can live better against all odds.

Try to rewire your ideas for the good. Take the self-improvement process in a step-by-step manner. First, identify what your negative thoughts really are and why they exist. Second, try to extract the positive lessons from the negative experience. Lastly, rewire the negative thought using the positive extract to turn the thought into a positive and inspiring one. Consider the example of getting a B in Calculus. It will be easy for you to say, “I didn’t perform well in the exam as intended". Rather, try to come up with something like, “I pushed myself for the Calculus preparation in a quite short time". Or, “The grade I scored is better than I expected given my packed schedule along with other commitments".

Author Bio

Lara Hawkins is a professional motivational speaker and conducts seminars and workshops for both students and professionals worldwide. Besides her regular job and passion to work for our self-improvement and fulfillment, Lara also operates an accomplished assignment company the UK with a large number of under- and postgraduate disciplines under her expertise.

Here atPositive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.